To investigate the mechanisms responsible for the
favorable clinical course of benign multiple sclerosis (BMS), we acquired
functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during right hand movement in 17
BMS, 15 secondary progressive (SP) MS patients and 10 healthy volunteers.
While, compared to controls, BMS patients had exclusively an increased
activation of the left primary sensorimotor cortex, SPMS patients had, compared
to the other two groups, increased activations of several areas in the
fronto-parietal lobes, and reduced activations of the supplementary motor area,
basal ganglia, and cerebellum, suggesting a relative preservation of brain
adaptive properties in BMS.